Noticed
by bbkris10
Summary: Yugyeom just wants to be noticed. got7/bromance/platonic/ot7/family7/maknae/hyung
1. Chapter 1

Noticed

"Yugyeom-ah will take the punishment for me because he is the maknae, right?" Jinyoung challenged with a mischievous sparkle in his eye. The question was met with loud "oohs" from the group and mcs of the television show as everyone turned to Yugyeom to see his response.

"Hyuuuuung." Yugyeom complained, throwing his head back.

"I'll do it!" Bambam piped up to everyone's surprise.

"Ani, I can do it!" Yugyeom said, his competitive nature kicking in as he pushed a smug Bambam back into his stool, "give me the lemon!"

Jackson laughed hysterically as he moved the accursed lemon from Jinyoung's plate and held it in front of Yugyeom's mouth.

In all honesty, eating a slice of lemon was not that bad, but Yugyeom made a huge deal out of it to make Jinyoung feel guilty. He clenched his eyes shut as soon as his lips closed around the lemon and fake-gagged, making hissing noises and frantically pointing for the water. The group was hysterical and it only fueled Yugyeom's performance. He was always proud to make his hyungs laugh, especially on live television.

"Wah, you have one tough maknae!" the prim female mc noted with a fake enthusiasm often seen in prim female mcs. Yugyeom's mood was immediately deflated. He knew this would start the stories about what an awful maknae he was. He swallowed the last of the lemon with much less bravado than before, raising a half smile and a thumbs up to show that he'd done it.

"Ne, a little too tough if you ask me," JB said, as if on cue, "He honestly does nothing for us anymore but tells us to do it ourselves!"

"Aniiii. I got you coffee yesterday JB-hyung!" Yugyeom protested, his whiny defense only making the rest of the members giggle.

"Wait, you bought JB coffee and not me?" Jinyoung asked, eyes wide in his trademark look of mock accusation.

"I just took the punishment for you Jinyoung-hyung! Do you want to eat a lemon? I think I saw some backstage…"

"Did you just threaten me?" Jinyoung asked, trying not to crack a smile because of Yugyeom's exasperation. "The disrespect…" he mumbled, shaking his head as the members laughed and Yugyeom kept yelling "yah" and "chincha?" As much as he knew the fans loved to see him tease Yugy, he had to admit that he found it pretty fun too. He liked that it was a special bonding that only really worked between the two of them. Yugyeom was awkward and sparing with skinship and got easily embarrassed by kind words, so is a good way Jinyoung had discovered to show Yugyeom affection. His lips finally cracked into a smile as Yugyeom's ears flushed red with embarrassment.

"Don't kill Yugyeom our dance machine!" Jackson was begging dramatically on the floor at the foot of Jinyoung's stool, making Jinyoung laugh even more.

"Ah yes, speaking of dance, would you please tell us some of Got7's new concepts, Youngjae?" And Yugyeom was relieved to catch a break as the interview was steered another direction….

Back at the dorm, the boys either collapsed onto the couch or went into their rooms after a long schedule. They had done makeup and hair all morning, the tv show in the afternoon, and had just got back to the dorms after a three hour dance practice and a quick dinner. Mark and JB were exercising their seniority by showering first. Yugyeom sprawled out onto the couch next to Bambam.

"Aish, you smell." Bambam jabbed half-heartedly, plugging his nose and scooting away from his friend.

"You don't smell any better!" Yugyeom shot right back, plugging his nose too. Both he and Bambam refused to be the first to back down so they both plugged their noses and glared at each other until their faces turned red and they had to break, gasping for air in between loud laughs.

"Why are we like this?" Bambam laughed, scooting back next to Yugyeom and crossing his legs on the couch.

Yugyeom giggled and slung his leg over Bambam's knee, "Who knows?" he responded. They began talking about their day and all was well until Bambam brought up the TV show.

"Wah, Jinyoung-hyung really is teasing you a lot lately. I don't think he means anything by it, but still…" Bambam said quietly, in case the older boy was listening from his room.

"Yeah," Yugyeom agreed quietly, "I thought it was just me overthinking things, but I guess it's getting pretty obvious…" he chewed on his lip nervously, thinking back to all of the times recently that he had been called mean or a bad maknae by his hyungs on interviews and shows.

"Yah, he's probably just playing it up for the fans." Bambam said, noticing Yugyeom's mood and setting his hand on the boy's knee. "You know they love that kind of thing."

"You're right." Yugyeom smiled up at Bambam before moving his leg off of him and getting up to grab his towel for a shower.

"Of course I'm right!" Bambam yelled behind him, causing Yugyeom to laugh to himself as he retrieved his towel.

The shower was relaxing at first, but the time alone set Yugyeom back to thinking about the "bad maknae" thing again before long. _I'm not really so terrible, am I?_ Yugyeom thought to himself, finger-combing shampoo into his hair. He began to think about all of the times that he had failed them. When he just couldn't get his vocals to sound as strong as theirs. When someone called him unprofessional and he felt like he made the group look bad. When he read nasty comments telling him he didn't belong. When he was annoying. When he added to his hyung's stress and problems.

Yugyeom sighed, closing his eyes and stepping under the water to rinse his hair. He wanted his hyungs to love him as much as he loved them, but he always seemed to disappoint them. He saw the way other groups treated their maknaes. Always babying them and telling them how proud they were. He felt like his height and personality made it hard for the hyungs to see him as someone who needed that kind of attention and care. Since he was physically so much bigger than them, they could forget that he was years younger and did crave nurturing even though he physically looked independant and intimidating. Even a little extra attention every now and then would do the trick, but again because of his personality, he would never ask for it. So he went on trying to get their attention in other ways, whether it be pranking them, teasing them, working extra hard on his performance, or even talking back. He just wanted to be noticed.

Yugyeom sighed, rubbing the last of the soap out of his eyes before turning off the water. He would try to be a better maknae. _No, I will do better._ Yugyeom thought to himself as he toweled off and slipped on some clean underwear, sweatpants, and an oversized t shirt. He exited the bathroom while toweling off his hair and nearly knocked right into Mark.

"Aish, watch where you're going!" Mark said, slightly annoyed because some of the water he had just gotten had spilled onto the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Yugyeom instantly replied, dropping to his knees immediately and using the towel that had been for his hair to dry the water from the floor. "Do you want me to get you more water?" he asked, standing back up.

Mark stood there looking at him incredulously, clutching his mug with his mouth slightly agape. "Wh...what?"

Yugyeom took the mug from his hand and rushed into the kitchen to refill it before cautiously carrying it back, careful not to spill a drop. "Here you go, hyung!" he said, pressing it into Mark's hands with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry I ran into you."

Mark, who had been frozen the entire time, blinked his eyes twice before snapping back into reality, "Yah, who are you and what have you done with Kim Yugyeom?" he asked suspiciously, making Yugyeom laugh.

"What? It's just me, Mark-hyung."

"Ani!" Mark shot back immediately, "The Yugyeom I know would have said "get over it" and kept walking to his room!"

Yugyeom's smile disappeared and he looked down at his hands, nudging his toe into the floor. "I'm really not that mean, hyung." he mumbled, "I know I tease you guys sometimes but I'm really not that mean."

"Aish." Mark said again, uncomfortable because he had made Yugyeom uncomfortable.

"What's going on out here?" JB asked, poking his head out of his room.

"Yugyeom is being really nice and it's freaking me out!" Mark said, edging around a flustered Yugyeom to retreat into his and Jackson's room, water in hand.

"Yah, why are you being nice to Mark and not to me?" Jaebum fake-complained, stepping out into the hallway, "haven't I been a good leader to you?"

"You are the best leader!" was Yugyeom's honest and automatic response. "Honestly I don't know why you guys all think I'm never nice to you."

"You're never nice to me!" instigator Jinyoung called from his and Jaebum's shared room where JB had left the door open.

"I am!" Yugyeom protested, and all of a sudden everything had built up to so much that he collapsed cross-legged onto the floor right there in the middle of the hallway and let out a sob.

Jaebum's eyes widened as the boy suddenly started crying, and he kneeled down onto the floor in front of Yugyeom. "Hey, don't cry Yugyeom, it's not that big of a deal, we were just teasing." he said, reaching out to grip Yugyeom's shoulder.

"No you weren't" Yugyeom cried and buried his face in his hands, "You think I'm a bad maknae."

By this point, Jinyoung had come out of the room and sat down in the hallway next to Jaebum. The other boys opened their doors at the sound of one of their members crying, but Jinyoung gestured at them to go back into their rooms.

"Yugyeom-ie." he chided gently, rubbing Yugyeom's knee in an effort to get the boy to look up at him, "Yugyeom-ie I was just teasing you. We don't actually think that you're mean all the time. It's just that...well for me, you tease me a lot, and I thought that's how you liked to show affection so I've been teasing you back. I'm sorry, really, I didn't know it made you so upset."

Yugyeom gasped for breath, completely embarrassed by how much emotion he was showing and by letting out what he had said already. Luckily, Jaebum was in full on leader-mode and began taking charge of the situation. "Come on, let's go to my room." he instructed, standing up and reaching to down to take Yugyeom's wrists and pull him up with him. Yugyeom followed his leader to the room with his head down, shamefully rubbing his wet eyes with the back of his hands to wipe away the tears. Once they were all inside, Jinyoung closed the door behind him. "Come here" Jaebum instructed, not unkindly, sitting down on his bed and patting the spot next to him.

Yugyeom flushed with embarrassment and shook his head, regaining enough composure to respond. "Ani hyung, it's ok, I'm fine."

Jinyoung scoffed behind him and took him by his arm to drag him to the bed where he plopped the boy down in between himself and JB. "You're not fine and we need to talk about it, Yugy." Jinyoung stated firmly. "Do you think that we think that you're a bad maknae because we tease you?"

Yugyeom sniffed and coughed a little. Then shook his head. Then nodded. Then shrugged with an exasperated groan, burying his head into his hands again. "I don't knooow." came the muffled reply.

"Yugyeom-ie." Jinyoung said, his familiar baritone voice prompting Yugyeom to give a full answer. He placed a warm hand flat over the boy's spine and rubbed comforting circles into the middle of his back while they waited for Yugyeom to calm down.

After a long moment, Jaebum spoke "You can tell us the truth Yugyeom. Just be straightforward." Jinyoung hummed in agreement.

Yugyeom exhaled and rubbed his face, then looked up with his chin resting in his hands and his elbows on his knees. "Well," he started, "it's just that...at first I didn't mind the teasing. I even thought it was kind of fun. But then it became too much, I mean even other members have pointed it out! And it's not all the time it's just...when you say that I am always mean and tell the mcs that I never do anything for you….it makes me feel terrible! I know I act that way sometimes but it's just...nevermind."

"Yugyeom." Jaebum said, a hint of warning in his voice that forced the boy to continue.

Yugyeom gulped and looked down before continuing, "It's just...because I want you to notice me. When I used to do everything you asked without a question it felt like sometimes you would forget I was there. It wasn't as if you were ungrateful-don't get me wrong- but sometimes you didn't even look up to see that I was maybe sad that day, and I felt like if I could only get you to look at me-" he stopped, cutting himself off before he got too emotional, realising how needy this all sounded now that he was finally saying it out loud. "Anyway, the point is that I know I'm not the greatest maknae and I promise to work on it, and I am sorry that I've disappointed you. That's all."

"You haven't disappointed us." Jinyoung stated matter-of-factly, moving his hand from Yugyeom's back to steeple his fingers under his chin.

"I'm actually really proud of you. You've been working really hard on your music and your dancing and you're contributing to the team more than ever." Jaebum added, and the cold that had come over Yugyeom when Jinyoung took his comforting hand away was replaced with absolute warmth as his hyung's praise filled his ears.

"...Really?" he asked.

Jaebum nodded solemnly. "What I want to talk about is what you keep stopping yourself from saying. Please tell us."

The tone that his leader used was so commanding yet desperate that Yugyeom felt that he had no choice but to answer honestly.

"I guess I just want to feel like the maknae sometimes. I know that it's silly and stupid but...I really look up to you guys and you take care of me so well and I know it's a lot to ask but I just want to be noticed not all the time just every once in awhile and I don't want to annoy you-"

"Yugyeom-ie!" Jinyoung cut him off with a light smile, "You're talking too fast. Are you trying to say that you want us to give you more attention?"

Yugyeom blushed and looked down, feeling like a complete child, but he nodded all the same.

Jaebum let out a big sigh, and to everyone's surprise, reached out and wrapped his arms around Yugyeom, setting his chin on the boy's head. "I'm so sorry, Yugy. I haven't been the kind of leader I should be. I should have noticed." He slowly rocked Yugyeom back and forth, and the unexpected tenderness caused the boy let out a fresh bout of new tears. "I will do better, I promise. Do you forgive me?" Jaebum asked.

"It's not your fault, hyung! You are the best leader in the world!" Yugyeom cried into JB's shoulder, crossing his arms over his chest and curling defensively into the rare embrace.

"It is my fault, in part. I'm supposed to keep every member of this group happy and healthy. Especially my maknae." Yugyeom felt something so special when his leader called him "maknae" in an affectionate tone for the first time in months.

"Do you forgive me Yugyeom?" Jaebum asked seriously, tightening his hold on the crying boy.

Yugyeom nodded into his chest more times than necessary and said "I forgive you, hyung."

"Good." JB said, and with a reassuring squeeze, he loosened his hold on the boy and patted his back. "If I ever make you feel bad, I want you to tell me as soon as possible so I can fix it and be a better leader for you, okay Yugy?" Nothing should ever upset you for this long."

Yugyeom nodded and wiped at his eyes. "Yes, hyung. I love you, hyung." he said sincerely, looking up at Jaebum through the lingering tears.

"I love you too." Jaebum responded with a small, affectionate smile.

"Yah, Yugyeom-ie." Jinyoung said, and Yugyeom turned to look at his other hyung. Jinyoung smiled at him and wiped away the stray tears that were falling from his maknae's eyes. "I know when we're teasing each other I can get a little carried away. I promise I thought it was the way you showed me affection. Now that I know better, I definitely won't take it as far."

Yugyeom smiled and leaned into the soft hands wiping his face. "I do like when we tease each other, just please don't always call me mean. I know it's hard for us to be affectionate, but...I really cherish you and I would hate it if you disliked me."

For once, Jinyoung fought the urge to make fun of Yugyeom for saying something so mushy and surprised the boy with a sentimental response. "Kim Yugyeom, you are my little brother. I love you. You don't ever have to worry about that again. I'm sorry I took it too far before. I will never do it again. And if I ever do, you have permission to make fun of my laugh for a full week."

This made Yugyeom giggle, and then Jinyoung was giggling, and then JB was giggling because that crap's contagious, and then they were all laughing and no one really knew why, and all of the tension in the room slowly evaporated. Yugyeom felt as light as a feather, and for the first time in months, he was happy and at ease around his hyungs.

"Aish, I'm sorry I cried so much." he said, looking up and dabbing at his under-eyes.

"You needed to let it all out." Jinyoung responded without even a hint of sarcasm.

"Alright Yugy," Jaebum said, settling a hand on the boy's back, "are you ready to go to bed now?"

Yugyeom nodded with a bright smile and pushed himself off the bed. "Thank you for everything, hyungs. You are the best! Goodnight!" He said with a double thumbs up.

The older boys laughed and returned the gesture, calling goodnight after their maknae as he left the room.


	2. Chapter 2

Jaebum ran a hand over his face as the door shut behind their happy maknae. "Aish, I'm an idiot." he muttered to Jinyoung. "I can't believe I didn't notice sooner. Now that I think about it, he's been acting weird for weeks. I thought he was just tired…"

Jinyoung tsked at him and walked across the room to turn off the lights for bed. "It's not your fault. I was the worst about teasing him. I'm more annoyed with myself than anything. I should have known I was making him upset."

JB sighed again and fell back onto his mattress in the dark, pulling up his leg to tuck himself under his covers. "I guess we all could have done better." he said, pushing his hair off of his forehead and readjusting his pillow.

"Yeah...can I sit by you for a minute?" Jinyoung asked from the door, and was answered by an annoyed groan and a rustling of sheets, which meant that JB was making room for him. He smiled and walked over to the bed, lifting up the covers and tucking himself in quickly.

"Aish, Jinyoung-ie, why are you so needy?" JB said in an accusatory tone, but he gave himself away by turning his body to face his closest friend and making sure that he had enough room.

"Jaebum-hyung, you can fool the rest of the members with your big bad macho act, but I know you love to cuddle. Especially when you're upset. Nothing gets past me." Jinyoung said nonchalantly, snuggling into the warm mattress.

Jaebum scoffed, but slung his arm over the other boy anyway. "You'll never hear it from me." he responded.

"I know." Jinyoung smiled, "but it's still true. Goodnight hyung. Let's take good care of Yugyeom tomorrow. If the other boys see us doing it, they probably will too." He closed his eyes.

"Hey, who said you could sleep here?" Jb asked roughly, but Jinyoung pretended not to hear him and fake-snored instead. "Ah, chincha?" he asked, but Jinyoung kept pretending to sleep, a tiny smile on his lips. "What am I gonna do with you?" JB muttered, but pulled the boy closer to his chest anyway, and closed his eyes as well. "Goodnight Jinyoung-ie"

Yugyeom practically skipped down the hallway to his room, feeling better than he had in weeks.

"What was that all abou-" Bambam asked from his bed as Yugyeom finally came back to their room, but was interrupted as a huge force pummeled him back into his bed.

"I LOVE YOU BAMBAM!" Came the happy, nasal squeal as Yugyeom wrapped his arms and legs around Bambam's thin body and nuzzled his nose into his friend's neck, his eyes clenched shut and a huge dopey grin on his face.

"Ah! Yugyeom, I can't breathe!" Bambam said, tapping Yugyeom's arm to get him to loosen up.

"I love you so sosososo much! You are the best friend in the whole world, Bamie!" Yugyeom said, ignoring his friend's protests and holding him tighter.

"Yugyeooooom stahhhp." Bambam whined, and squirmed in his best friend's iron grip in an unsuccessful attempt to break free. "Geez did you win the lottery or something? I thought I heard you crying out there. What's going on?"

"Nothing, I'm just so happy." Yugyeom said, smiling and nuzzling into Bambam's neck.

"Eeeeew." Bambam complained, shoving Yugyeom's head away from him, but laughing at the boy's silly antics. "So you weren't crying? I was so sure…"

"I WAS crying but then I talked to JB and Jinyoung-hyung and now I'm NOT crying and why can't you just love meeee." he whined, loosening his grip enough for Bambam to move again.

Bambam laughed and freed his arms from where they were trapped against his chest to pat Yugyeom on the back. "Okay, okay, I love you too, I'm glad the hyungs made you feel better. But why all the sudden skinship?"

"I just want you to know that you are my favorite person in the whole wide world, and that I love you, and that I am grateful that you try not to ignore me."

Bambam frowned a little and brushed Yugyeom's hair back from his forehead. "Were you upset because of the way the other members were treating you?" he asked gently, and the still positive maknae paused before nodding against his best friend's chest.

"Yes. I told them how bad it made me feel when they teased me so much and called me mean and a bad maknae, and I apologized for acting bad sometimes."

"You're not bad." Bambam said, and began running his fingers through his friend's hair.

Yugyeom sighed contentedly and felt the tension leave his body as the nimble fingers travelled through his hair. Bambam always showed affection with his words, but could be very reluctant to do skinship with his close friends. "I'm trying to be better." Yugyeom murmured, practically purring as Bambam began to massage his scalp.

Bambam smiled at how happy this made his maknae and was reminded that although he was much larger than him, Yugy liked to be comforted to. _I'll look out for you better, my friend._ Bambam said to himself as he stroked the boy's head. "Yugy, it's really late. You need to go to bed."

Yugyeom's smile turned into a frown and he shook his head, clutching Bambam's body close to himself again.

"Ah, okay fine, you can sleep with me tonight, but I still have to turn the lights off."

Yugyeom shook his head again, not loosening his grip on the smaller boy the slightest bit.

Bambam laughed in disbelief, rolling his eyes and reaching over the koala-like boy to grab his phone off his nightstand. With difficulty, he managed to dial Jackson's number and put his phone against his ear, even with Yugyeom snuggling up to him and nestling his head under his chin.

"Hey Jackson...I know what time it is, I'm sorry...could you please do me a favor….could you come to my room and turn the light off...I would turn it off myself if I could but I have a Yugyeom attached to me...no, he really won't let go...what? No you may NOT take pictures!... JACKSON!" Bambam yelled into the phone, and about two seconds later the door burst open.

"AWWWW!" Jackson squealed, and immediately started snapping photos of the two boys snuggled up in bed together. "Mark-hyung, Youngjae, come look at this!" Jackson called over his shoulder, and Bambam blushed fiercely as two more pairs of feet could be heard padding down the hallway.

"AH, CUTEU!" Youngjae yelled upon sight, and threw his head back with laughter when Bambam stuck his tongue out at him. Yugyeom could not be deterred from cuddling his Bam, and smiled happily throughout the whole endeavor with his eyes closed and his head tucked under Bambam's chin.

Mark came in next and immediately began laughing and making fun of Bambam to get the boy to blush even more.

"Hyuunngs stahp!" Bambam whined.

"Aw you're so cute Bamie!" Jackson said, and put his phone away long enough to run over and jump onto the two boys and wrap his arms around them both. "My little babies!" he teased, and sloppily kissed them both on the cheek. Yugyeom smiled and laughed while Bambam said "eeew." Youngjae, not one to be left out, yelled "Incoming!" and jumped on top of the cuddle pile, laughing his head off and smothering the boys beneath him.

"Youngjaeee, I can't breathe!" Bambam yelled, causing a giggling Mark to come over and try to pull Youngjae off. However, he forgot how much stronger Youngjae was and ended up being pulled onto the bed as well. They all began rolling around on the bed and pushing and pulling to try to gain space until somebody (probably Jackson) started tickling, and then it became the tickle fight of the century! Yugyeom finally released his grip on Bambam when Mark tickled under his arms, and the two youngest boys tickled back with all of their might, but were eventually defeated by the three older boys.

They all fell back onto the small bed exhausted when Bambam and Yugyeom finally surrendered, and held onto one another so that no one would fall off the bad.

"Aish, Bambam, turn on your side, there's not enough room." Jackson complained.

"It's my bed!" Bambam complained, but turned over anyway, allowing the touchy boy to wrap his strong arms around him and spoon him securely against his chest.

Yugyeom was jealous of the cuddling friends, and carefully crawled over Youngjae to press himself into his former position, with his head under Bambam's chin. Jackson freed one of his arms from around Bambam's thin torso to hold onto Yugyeom's arm as well.

Youngjae giggled and snuggled up against yugyeom's back, pressing his nose into the nape of the tall boy's neck. Yugyeom giggled at the sensation and smiled, happily surrounded by his favorite people. "Mark-hyung, cuddle with us!" Yugyeom called with his eyes shut.

"Fine, if you insist. Let me turn off the lights first." Mark got up to close the door and switch off the lights, and then used his phone's flashlight to find his way back to the bed. The only spot left was on the edge next to Youngjae, so Mark decided to show the boy some rare love and got in behind him, hooking his arms under Youngjae's armpits and pressing his chest to the boy's back.

"Hyuuung." Youngjae whined, his head forced away from Bambam's warm neck, but smiled as a strangely sweet Mark nuzzled his face into Youngjae's shoulder and pressed a quick kiss there.

"Mark, you never do skinship with me!" Youngjae said, surprised.

"What can I say, Yugyeom inspired me." Mark said with a smile, and Yugyeom grinned into Bambam's chest.

"You're welcome Youngjae." he bragged, and Jackson laughed and squeezed his arm. Yugyeom breathed in deeply, the expansion of his chest filling in any of the little spare spaces between him and the boys around him, and all of their familiar scents mingled to meld into the smell he had come to associate with the word _home._ "I'm so happy right now." he said.

"Me too." said Jackson

"Me too!" said Yugyeom

"Mmm." Mark agreed.

Bambam rolled his eyes. "This _is_ kind of nice, I guess."

"So you'll let us all sleep in your bed again?" Jackson asked earnestly, poking his head up to look down at Bambam.

"Never," Bambam replied with a mischievous laugh, "Now everyone go to sleep before I change my mind and kick you all out!"

Yugyeom laughed softly. "Goodnight Bamie. Goodnight hyungs." he said, and was met with a chorus of bright "goodnights" in return.

"Our little maknae." Mark murmured sleepily from the other side of the bed, and that was the last thing Yugyeom registered before he fell into a peaceful slumber with a smile on his face.

"Wake up sleepyheads, I made breakfast!" Jinyoung called, knocking on Mark and Jackson's door. When there was no answer, he knocked again a little louder. Still nothing but silence. "Guys?" Jinyoung asked, opening the door. His eyes widened when he saw that both of their beds were empty. He turned in a complete 360, scanning the small room, but there was no sign of the boys. Jinyoung began to feel a tiny cold tendril of fear in his chest and his heartbeat quickened as he quickly left the room to bang on Youngjae's door.

"Youngjae-ah, wake up!" he yelled, throwing the door open. His mouth fell open with shock when he found another empty bed. Mark and Jackson may have gotten up early to work out, but Youngjae never missed a chance to sleep in. Jinyoung began to sweat as he turned to the last door on the hallway, heart racing. _Yugyeom._

After their encounter the night before, Jinyoung did not want to imagine anything happening to his maknae. He ran to the door at the end of the hallway, silently praying _please let Yugyeom be ok, please let Yugyeom be ok.._

"YUGYEOM-AH ARE YOU-"

Yugyeom jolted awake at the sound of his name being shouted at a decibel that was likely to wake the neighbors.

Bambam winced beside him and turned over to burrow into Jackson and move away from the disturbance.

Jinyoung stood frozen in the doorway, one arm still fully extended in the act of pushing the door open and gawked. _What on earth?!_ Before him lay Mark, Youngjae, Yugyeom, Bambam, and Jackson all snuggled up together on one bed.

Mark yawned and lazily detached himself from a still-sleeping Youngjae to turn over and see who had awakened him. "Jinyoungieeeee." he smiled, squinting his eyes into impossibly cute crescent moons as he stretched his neck and arms.

"Wh-what…"

"Good morning, hyung." Yugyeom greeted quietly, peeking up over the other members to see the older boy.

"Aish, chincha?! Do you know how worried I was when I couldn't find any of you in your rooms?! I thought-"

"Shhhhhhh." mark hushed sleepily, pushing a finger against his lips, "you'll wake up the babies."

Jinyoung huffed and looked up at the ceiling dubiously. _I'm going to go crazy,_ he thought, rubbing circles into the sides of his temples.

"Jinyoungie." Mark called cutely, reaching out his arms and making grabby hands at his friend even as his eyes fell back shut.

Jinyoung rolled his eyes at the sleepy boy, having forgotten how strong Mark's early-morning aegyo was. Before he knew what he was doing, he was beside the bed clasping Mark's warm hands, and the other boy sighed contentedly and blinked his eyes open.

"Don't wake Bambam. He's finally cuddling with Jackson, and Jackson will never forgive you."

Jinyoung chuckled softly, Mark's adorableness soothing his prior worry away and he squeezed the boy's hands before shifting his gaze to the rest of the members.

Youngjae was curled into a tiny ball, sound asleep throughout all of the commotion, ever-so-softly muttering lyrics in his sleep. Yugyeom was lying next to him, practically glowing in the early morning light with an expression that could only be described as pure happiness as he stretched his arms over his head and settled back down onto the mattress. Bambam was lying on his side with his back to Yugyeom, pressed up against Jackson with his hands on the other boy's chest. Jackson was pretending to be asleep, knowing that Bambam was slightly awake and would shove off of him the second he knew that the other boy was conscious. His arms were still loosely wrapped around Bambam from where they had been around his torso all night, and he slowly tightened them to bring the boy closer to him without making it look like he was awake.

Jinyoung found himself smiling at the sight of his members showing so much affection, and lowered his volume so as not to disturb them. He squatted down beside the bed so that he was eye-level with mark's delirious sleepy-smiley face and whispered "I made an American breakfast for everyone. Eggs and bacon and biscuits. There's juice and milk too. I'll go make a special iced choco for our maknae and set the table. Can you get everyone up and meet me in the kitchen soon?"

Mark nodded sweetly and Jinyoung smiled at him. "Good hyung." he said, letting go of the older boy's hands to ruffle his hair fondly. Mark smiled and squinted his eyes, enduring the gesture. "Jinyoungie!" he whispered brightly as the boy turned to go.

Jinyoung turned back around to see Mark raising his eyebrows and tapping his cheek expectedly.

"Kisseu?" he asked, and Mark beamed and nodded.

Jinyoung giggled at the silly boy and leaned down to smooth Mark's hair back and plant a soft good-morning kiss on his forehead.

Mark hummed happily at the contact and let Jinyoung go without complaint, watching as the boy tiptoed back across the room and slowly closed the door behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

Jinyoung slowly closed the door behind him until he heard it shut with a dull thud. He pulled out his phone to text JB as he walked towards the kitchen.

 _It looks like the boys won't need to be debriefed on Maknae Day after all! When I went to wake them up this morning I found them all sleeping in one bed! They were like that all night…_

 _Well that was easy! Still, we should make sure to at least say something to the other boys in private before we're too far into the day. Maybe a group text w everyone but Gyeom?_

 _Ani, too risky. Someone might leave their phone lying around and he could see it. Besides, I think he and Bambam have their fingerprints programmed into each other's phones :,D_

 _Lol I forgot about that. Manager-hyung and I are almost back from the store. I explained to him a little bit about what's going on and he's cancelled everything but tonight's dance practice from our schedule to get things right with Yugyeom. We bought him an iced choco and some junk food. I think he's been losing too much weight lately…_

 _Good thinking! I was about to attempt to make an iced choco so that's a relief! See u soon…_

 _See u._

Jinyoung grinned and clicked his phone off. He rifled through the back of the cabinets, searching for the matching set of plates and glasses that he knew they had somewhere. The boys were used to eating off of paper towels so that they wouldn't have to do the dishes (yes, they were that lazy), but Jinyoung was proud of his breakfast and wanted to make it feel a little extra special, especially now that they didn't have a schedule to rush off to. He finally located the simple cream-colored dishes and arranged them around the coffee-table-gone-dinner-table in the living room. Sadly, they didn't have an actual dining room so this would have to make do. He set up a Tv stand-up tray next to the table and arranged the plate of biscuits, orange juice, apple juice, and milk atop it. Next he plated his steaming piles of eggs and bacon onto separate dishes and managed to fit them onto the center of the coffee table between the place settings. He was feeling a little extravagant and the boys weren't out yet so he decided to grab a string of white christmas lights from the top shelf of the pantry and string them over the living room windows. He drew the drapes and stood back to survey his handiwork as JB walked in the front door.

"Manager-hyung dropped me off so that he can get some work done at the company toda-wah Jinyoungie, you've really outdone yourself this time! I feel like I should go put on a suit for breakfast."

Jinyoung blushed at the lavish compliment as JB caught sight of his breakfast setting. "It is a little much, isn't it?" He asked, beginning to rethink the twinkling lights.

"Ani! Yugyeom will love it." Jb reassured him, and patted him on the shoulder. "I'll go get the boys. I'm starving!"

"Ne." Jinyoung agreed. He suddenly felt very nervous and embarrassed as he heard all of the boys coming out at Jaebum's request. He hoped they wouldn't think that it was childish and stupid of him to decorate the living room….

"WAH IS IT CHRISTMAS?" Jackson asked, entering the living room first with sparkling eyes.

Jinyoung laughed apprehensively, and rubbed the back of his neck, glancing around at the room again. "I made breakfast and...may have gotten a bit carried away."

By now the rest of the boys had piled into the room and were staring at Jinyoung's arrangements. He felt the blush darkening and began to regret the whole thing.

"Wow, so amazing." Jinyoung heard his maknae's nasally voice and almost turned around to hit him until he saw the boy's face and realised that for once, he hadn't uttered his favorite English phrase sarcastically.

"You like it?" he asked. Yugyeom nodded enthusiastically, his yellow hair shaking so that it really did resemble a dandelion.

"It's great, hyung. Thank you for making breakfast."

Yugyeom's grateful words brought the rest of the members back to reality and they all began to thank Jinyoung as well.

"Aish, stop it, it wasn't hard." he muttered, looking down at his shoes to hide his proud smile.

Thankfully the boys didn't notice, or at least didn't say anything, as the rushed to take their places at the table. Jinyoung smiled as he watched them laugh and gawk at the room and the food. Yugyeom had somehow ended up wedged in the middle instead of his usual spot on the end, and there was a light in his eyes and color in his cheeks. That could have been the early-morning glow of having just woken up, but Jinyoung chose to think otherwise. JB began asking everyone what they wanted to drink and pouring for them as the boys served themselves from the platters in the middle of the table.

Jinyoung felt the unease leave him as he watched the boys enjoy the breakfast he's put so much work into preparing, and his heart felt very warm. The kind of warm when you are surrounded by your family at Christmas and there is good holiday music playing and everyone is joyful. He sighed happily and joined the boys at the last open place in time for Jb to press a cool glass of milk into his hands with a half smile. He smiled back and took a sip, happy to sit quietly and observe the others.

Youngjae was already digging into the food and making exaggerated noises of contentment with every bite, making the maknae line laugh. Mark and Jaebum were rolling their eyes but suppressing their own smiles. Jinyoung thought he could cry of happiness, but of course he would never show it. Actor Jinyoung never shows his cards. He glanced over at Yugyeom. His hair was sticking up in all directions and his shirt was at least three sizes too big and there was a bit of leftover eyeliner smeared under his eyes from his shower the night before, but Jinyoung didn't think he had looked so good in a long time. Yugyeom caught his eyes and threw him a questioning half-smile. Jinyoung returned it confidently.

"Here, have some eggs hyung." Yugyeom said, reaching across the table to serve a hearty helping of eggs onto Jinyoung's plate. "And some bacon too, it's really good." Jinyoung's eyebrows shot up. Not only was Yugyeom serving him, but he was _complimenting_ him. He was about to point out how irregular this behavior was, but he bit his tongue when he remembered the events of the night before. "...Thank you."

Yugyeom smiled candidly at his hyung and returned the tongs to the bacon platter.

"Ok, kids I have an announcement." Jaebum said, clapping his hands together to silence the boys and draw their attention. "Because we've been working so hard lately," he shot jinyoung an almost imperceptible glance, "JYP has decided to cancel our schedules until dance practice tonight and give us the day off."

His announcement was met with cheers of the group and he smiled briefly before gesturing for them to quiet down again. "They specifically want us to work on our relationships with each other today and make sure that everyone is good before we start schedules tomorrow. So I expect everyone to take it seriously and cooperate. So that we can have a fun day off." Scattered 'ne!'s filled the room and the group returned happily to eating.

When everyone had finished with breakfast and were absolutely stuffed, Jinyoung began to move through the group of lazy, happy boys and gathered up their dirty dishes.

"Ani Jinyoung-hyung, I'll do the dishes. You worked to put all of this together. It's the least I can do." a pure-hearted Youngjae offered. Jinyoung smiled gratefully and handed him the stack of plates.

"I'll help you." Mark said, pushing up from where he had been lounging on the floor with his back against the couch to stack the cups.

"Me too." Bambam said, feeling a tad guilty at not offering sooner as he jumped up to clear napkins, silverware, and leftover food from the table.

Yugyeom began to stand to help too, but Jb pressed him back onto the couch with a hand on his shoulder. "The kitchen is too small for four people to do the dishes." he said with a lopsided smile.

"Ah, ne." Yugyeom responded, chuckling at the memory of the time all seven of them had tried to squeeze into the small kitchen to form an assembly line for the dishes because no one could remember whose night it was.

Jinyoung got up and ruffled the boy's yellow hair before excusing himself to go to the restroom. When he was out of eyesight he snuck into the kitchen instead. The boys turned around from doing the dishes to acknowledge him, but he put a finger to his lips and gestured for them to gather around, looking over his shoulder to make sure that no one was coming. They tiptoed toward him with wide, mischievous eyes, wondering what the secret could be.

"Alright guys, we need to talk." They all nodded. "The real reason that we have the day off today is because of Yugyeom." He shushed them harder when they began to ask him why. "Sh! We are taking a day to specifically care for Yugyeom because he has been feeling neglected as our maknae lately. And for good reason. I appreciate you all sleeping with him last night, although I don't know why you did it, but I want to ask you all to please continue to play special attention to him today. We need to make sure he understands that we love him and cherish him and that he is an important member of our group. Understand?"

The boys were all a bit taken aback by Jinyoung's unusually sentimental words, but one by one they let the words sink in and nodded in agreement.

"Good" Jinyoung said, offering them as encouraging smile. "Thanks for doing the dishes, kids." he said, loudly this time.

They exchanged glances before catching on and quickly responding loudly with variations of "Ah, ne, of course, anything for you hyung."

He smiled at them again grabbed Yugyeom's iced choco out of the fridge before returning to the living room with it hidden behind his back.

He plopped next to his maknae on the couch and revealed it with a small "ta-da!"

Yugyeom was shocked and accepted the gift after a moment. "Is it my birthday?" he asked with a genuinely puzzled expression. Jinyoung felt like he had been stabbed in the side. They really had been neglecting their baby. "No." he said, forcing a smile onto his lips and managing a somewhat convincing laugh. "Can't I give my maknae an iced choco?" he asked, slightly teasingly.

Yugyeom smiled, used to this familiar banter, and playfully swatted at his hyung. He exaggeratedly examined the cup, looking at the bottom of it and sniffing it. "Is it poisoned, then?" he asked, an over-the-top inquisitive expression on his face.

And there was the dagger turning in Jinyoung's side. Now he knew how Yugyeom had felt this whole time. He wanted to hit himself. Instead he laughed again and lightly shoved back.

"Aish, chincha. Just drink it." Jaebum said, rolling his eyes but allowing himself a grin.

Yugyeom grinned back and took a sip, blushing a little with this acceptance of the gift. "If it's poison it's really good...thank you." he said, making his hyungs smile as the other boys returned from doing the dishes.


	4. Chapter 4

The members looked at each other, everyone but Yugyeom making meaningful eye contact to suggest that no one proposed something that Yugyeom wouldn't enjoy.

"I'm good with anything." Youngjae said, rather unhelpfully.

"Yeah…" Jackson said, attempting to help, "I don't know, what do you want to do, Yugyeom?"

"Oh...I don't really know...since we have to save energy maybe we could watch tv...but it's whatever you guys want to do…" Yugyeom said nervously, not used to being directly asked for his opinion on group activities.

"Great idea! Let's watch that drama you've been talking about!" Bambam shouted, jumping up to grab the remote.

"I'll go get my mattress to put on the floor, move the table Youngjae!" Jackson yelled, rushing off down the hallway.

Jinyoung hid his mouth behind his hand to chuckle at the boys. So much for subtlety.

"Oh...ok." Yugyeom muttered, rather startled as he tucked his legs up underneath him on the couch so that he wouldn't get hit in Youngjae's rush to move the coffee table.

"I'll get the movie snacks." Jaebum said, moving from the armchair.

"But hyung we don't have any…." Yugyeom started but was cut off as Jackson returned with a yell and threw the mattress onto the ground at the foot of the couch. Jb casually sauntered back in and dropped the convenience store bag full of Yugyeom's favorite junk foods onto the mattress.

"...snacks" Yugyeom finished.

"What, I was hungry." Jaebum shrugged dismissively.

Yugyeom looked around at all of the boys rushing around to get ready to start the drama and realized how weird it was because they HATED watching his dramas. And then he saw the reflection of the Christmas lights in the TV and was reminded of how strange it was that Jinyoung prepared such a nice meal for them this morning. And then his gaze returned to the bag of JB's snacks and realized that they were all of HIS favorite foods. JB didn't even like them! "Okay, what's going on here?" Yugyeom demanded, silencing all of the boys in the midst of their scurrying. Youngjae even froze halfway bent over in the act of helping Jackson situate blankets and pillows on the mattress. The younger boys slowly let their eyes drift over to Jinyoung.

"Aish, good job you guys." Jaebum said sarcastically.

"Hey you weren't Mr. Sly Fox yourself, what with your bag full of Yugyeom snacks!" Bambam yelled back defensively, and the promptly slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Bambam you've ruined it!" Jackson accused, punching the younger boy on the shoulder.

"Ruined what? What's going on?" Yugyeom urged.

"Ah..." Jinyoung sighed with resign, rubbing the back of his neck, "I guess we weren't as natural as we wanted to be….but….we are trying to make today special for you." Jinyoung slowly lifted his eyes to meet his maknaes.

"Oh." Yugyeom said and then looked around the room again. _Oh._ That explained their strange behavior. That explained why they were making themselves do all of these things that they probably didn't even want to do. _OH._ This must have something to do with confessing his feelings to his hyungs last night. He felt his cheeks flush as he was overcome with embarrassment and guilt. "I'm...going to the restroom." He muttered and quickly stood up, nearly tripping over the mattress in his hurry to escape the room. He practically ran to the bathroom and locked the door behind him. He pressed his back against the door and let out quick heavy breaths. Oh _God._ He hit his forehead with the base of his palm, silently cursing himself for opening up. Now they were going to _pretend_ to like him, which was far, far worse than being ignored. Yugyeom caught sight of himself in the mirror and his face had turned an angry red. _I can't go back out there_ he thought, the prospect making his throat tighten with anxiety. _WhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdo_

Jinyoung groaned, letting his head fall into his hands after Yugyeom fled the room and slammed the door of the bathroom. "It was going so well."

"It's okay hyung, you did your best. Bambam said, reaching to rub his shoulder. "I was trying to make him feel special, not embarrassed. He could be thinking anything!"

"Let me talk to him." Mark said, from where he had been quietly sitting in the corner.

"Are you sure?" Jaebum asked, weighing the outcomes that could arise.

"Yes, just give me a minute." Mark said in his direct way, and got up to walk to the bathroom door. When he arrived in the darkened hallway he leaned his forehead on the door and softly knocked.

"Go away." was the muffled answer from inside.

"Open the door, Gyeomie." Mark said, undeterred.

"Ani." was the response.

"I know how to pick a lock, Gyeom. Either you let me in or I let myself in."

There was frustrated sigh from behind the door, and after a moment, it opened.

Instead of asking Yugyeom to come out, Mark stepped inside and re-locked the door behind him.

Yugyeom crossed his arms and stared to the side, his tongue in his cheek.

Mark said nothing.

Yugyeom endured the silence for only a few moments longer until he nearly exploded from the tension and spoke up, "So JB and Jinyoung told everyone about last night, I'm guessing." Yugyeom said, a bit sharper than he had intended to.

Mark nodded.

"Great." Yugyeom said sarcastically, and then exhaled,running his fingers through his hair.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. You don't need to be embarrassed." Mark finally said.

"Yes I do! It's absolutely embarrassing. I feel awful! Everyone put off everything for the day because of that stupid conversation. I wish I hadn't have said anything!"

"You were happy last night." Mark stated. "I can't remember the last time you've genuinely happy like that."

Yugyeom exhaled exasperatedly. "I didn't know they were going to make such a huge deal and take a whole day off. We're in the middle of a comeback for crying out loud. If JYP finds out about this then I will never be able to show my face in the company again!"

"JYP understands the importance of his idols' mental health." Mark replied. "So do we. No one thinks any less of you."

Yugyeom felt like he was going to cry from frustration and shame but he was NOT going to do that again so soon after last night. "My mental health is fine! We didn't need to cancel the schedule. I'm good, I can keep going. You guys don't have to endure a day full of doing things you hate because I said it might be nice to get a little more attention."

"Nobody's doing anything they don't want to do." Mark said, tilting his head. "We need to do this. We need to show you how important you are to us, and taking a day off doesn't even begin to cut it. We have been awful to you, Gyeom. We didn't mean to, but we have."

"Honestly, it's fine." Yugyeom grumbled.

"It's not fine!" Mark raised his voice, and Yugyeom flinched, never having heard Mark raise his voice in a serious manner. "It's very, very serious. It's more serious than our album. You are a person who we all love. If you are suffering, we should know. We should be suffering too. But we didn't even notice. You had to have a breakdown after months before anyone did anything about it. That is NOT fine, Yugyeom."

Yugyeom fought the urge to let the angry-embarrassed tears well over the rim of his eyes.

"Taking a single day out to give you attention is nowhere near what you deserve. But if you don't let us do this one small thing for you...we may never forgive ourselves. Yugyeom we are so, terribly sorry. Please let us show you."

Yugyeom opened his mouth to answer, but all that came out was a small strangled noise as his throat gave up the fight and the tears spilled from his eyes. Mark hadn't said that much to him the entire time he'd known him.

"I'm sorry." he choked out . "I'm sorry I've been a bad maknae for so long and...now I'm being a burden and I don't know what...what to do when you guys try to help...a-and I'm sorry hyung."

"Sh sh sh." Mark tenderly hushed. "Come here."

Yugyeom didn't hesitate a moment before rushing into Mark and bending his body so that his head could rest on Mark's chest. Mark petted his arm with one hand and lightly rested the other on his maknae's waist. Yugyeom had forgotten the extreme comfort that exuded from this position. It had been so long since Mark had voluntarily embraced him without Yugyeom being the one to initiate it.

It made his mind return to the time Mark had asked him to come home with him on vacation a few years ago and how special he had felt. He remembered when Mark had held him and danced with him in front of all of the fans at a fan meeting so long ago. He was reminded of a time, shortly after their debut, when they were filming RealGot7, and Mark had asked him to lie down with him. He had rested his head and Mark's chest on his hand on his stomach and the older boy had wanted him there. Even though they were in the eyes of the camera and had ended up goofing around, he had never felt so small and protected. That was a time when he had truly felt like a maknae.

"I've missed you, Mark." he managed, through the tears.

Mark felt his own chest constrict. "I've missed you too, baby. I'm so sorry. I know it's not enough, but I'm sorry."

As Yugyeom cried, Mark continued to pet his arm and hold him in place, comforting his maknae; apologizing without saying another word. He swallowed deeply to expel the tightness that had formed in his own throat and kissed Yugyeom's hair.

"I...I want to go apologize to the other boys." Yugyeom decided.

"You don't need to apologize, baby. Just let them take care of you today. Please. Let us apologize to you."

Yugyeom gulped and let the last tears he could manage fall before reluctantly pulling back from Mark's chest. Mark smiled at him and slid his hand down yugyeom's arm and grabbed his hand. "Ready?" he asked.

Yugyeom wiped his eyes and nodded.

Mark unlocked the door and led him back into the living room to the other boys. There were two spots open on the couch so they sat down together and Mark pulled Yugyeom's head onto his shoulder with his free hand, refusing to let go of Yugyeom's hand even when he got embarrassed by the other boys and tried to let go.

Thankfully, leader Jaebum sensed that it would be better to go on with Maknae Day than to discuss. "Can you hit play, Bambam? I want to watch this." he said.

"Ah, ne." Bambam responded, and scrambled to start the drama.

Yugyeom was thankful to JB for not drawing too much attention to him and let himself enjoy the opening sequence without feeling too awkward for causing a scene. Mark's shoulder was a rare place for anyone to be allowed to rest their head and Jackson was staring at them wistfully from Yugyeom's other side. Yugyeom caught his jealous gaze and stuck his tongue out, feeling his mood lighten up as the comfort spread to him from Mark.

Jackson scoffed and stuck his tongue out, but reached over to casually massage the back of Yugyeom's neck, which he sometimes did. He also knew the boy secretly liked it and he was happy to see Yugyeom sigh in contentment as his muscles were relaxed. At his feet, Youngjae, Bambam, and Jinyoung lay side by side on the mattress with their heads propped up on pillows in order to see the screen. Youngjae and Bambam not-so-discreetly found ways to touch Yugyeom, Youngjae resting his head on Yugyeom's foot and Bambam laying and arm above his head so that his fingertips could casually toy with the cuff of Yugyeom's pants.

As the episode progressed, Jinyoung handed Yugyeom up a bag of chips without looking away from the screen. Yugyeom took it with his free hand and a whispered "thanks". When he went to open it, he realized that there was a written note attached. " _Sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. Don't hate me. Maknae maknae maknae_."

Yugyeom smiled at the note and groped around on the floor with his free hand until he found the pen Jinyoung had used to write it. He wrote back. " _It's okay. I could never hate you. Hyung hyung hyung._ " He slid the note into Jinyoung's hand where it rested on the mattress above his head. Jinyoung discreetly closed his fist around it and turned on his side to read it out of sight of the boys. As he turned back onto his back Yugyeom caught the end of a smile on his hyung's face and it made him smile himself. Jinyoung folded the note carefully and slid it into his pocket before resituating himself to better view the TV. Yugyeom happily nestled his head back onto Mark's shoulder and stayed that way comfortably for the duration of the episode.


End file.
